Dr. Venegas’s work has far-reaching impacts on her profession. Her research on the experiences of Black and Asian women faculty of color employed by Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) that was published in 2021 in Race Ethnicity and Education was cited by Dr. Gina Garcia, of the Berkley School of Education at the University of California, Berkley, who is one of the preeminent researchers of HSIs. In addition, an elementary teacher from the Chicago area emailed Dr. Venegas about the tool she co-created for planning interactive read-alouds, indicating that her work is impacting literacy practices in elementary classrooms around the nation. A central theme in Dr. Venegas’s work is her dedication to amplifying the voices of underrepresented groups and advancing social justice in research. As PI of an HSI SIRG, Dr. Venegas led research on faculty women of color who educate Latinx students and advocate for supportive campus racial climates at their institutions. In discussing that research project, Dr. Venegas said, “I feel like we are helping UTRGV to continue to be at the forefront of leading research on HSIs as well as intentionally serving their student body and faculty.” Regarding her IES-funded study that is currently in progress, Dr. Venegas also had this to say:
Traditionally, educational research has been conducted with students who fit the hegemonic culture. Too often, linguistically and racially diverse populations such as those served in the Rio Grande Valley are excluded from participating in experimental educational research. Through our study, the primarily Latinx and bilingual students of the Rio Grande Valley are helping to expand the repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies that can be used in classrooms to further literacy amongst elementary students nationwide. Grade 4 students from 34 classrooms across the Rio Grande Valley are participating in our study and actively contributing to the body of knowledge in education, which is very exciting.
Dr. Venegas is also committed to conducting research alongside undergraduate-, master’s-, and doctoral-level students and mentoring future generations of RGV researchers. Through the IES-funded external grant, Dr. Venegas and her Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Steve Chamberlain, have employed 6 Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) in the span of 2 years. The GRAs Dr. Venegas helped recruit have come from departments across the College of Education and P-16 Integration, including (1) Counseling, (2) Human Development and School Services, (3) Organization and School Leadership, and (4) Teaching & Learning. Moreover, Dr. Venegas has helped involve students as co-authors and co-presenters in her projects. Through these efforts, she has helped advance one of UTRGV’s goals, as outlined in the strategic plan, to build a research enterprise and the College of Education and P-16 Integration’s mission to cultivate opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to engage in scholarship.
As for what the future holds, Dr. Venegas is currently co-authoring a book that aims to share with educators and society at large the rich community cultural wealth present within the Rio Grande Valley. The book features the perspectives of current and aspiring teachers and will specifically highlight the bicultural, bilingual, biliterate, and transnational nature of the Rio Grande Valley. Thus, Dr. Venegas’s future work will continue to advance the vision of the College of Education and P-16 Integration, and more specifically, the mission of the Department of Bilingual and Literacy Studies to celebrate the linguistic and literacy strengths of marginalized communities.
Dr. Venegas encourages graduate students interested in conducting educational and qualitative research to think beyond the bounds of traditional research. She provided the following words of wisdom:
A student may hear the word ‘research’ and think of a ‘rigid’ study such as one conducted in a laboratory setting. Certainly, there’s a place for that, but I think of educational research as being more fun and definitely needed. The public and media tend to harp on what’s ‘wrong’ with education. Well, educational research allows you to find and advocate for creative solutions while providing supporting evidence for them.
Finally, a qualitative researcher by heart, Dr. Venegas also shares these insights with graduate students and the research community at UTRGV:
Qualitative research is more my forte, and it’s really what you make of it. Of course, qualitative research is also empirical and bound by the ethical considerations of human subjects research, but you can certainly design a study that suits your interests. Qualitative research allows you to immerse yourself in a culture (broadly defined) through ethnography... Qualitative research also allows for more ‘non-traditional’ studies, such as conducting a content analysis of children’s and/or adolescent literature, curriculum, legislation related to education, etc. The possibilities really are endless!!